Apologies for the gap between postings (I am full of cold and can't seem to concentrate enough to put in the effort I usually put into my blogs...and I don't want to just post tosh for the sake of it!)...I shall return with one of my more customary, longer blogs soon.
Today, however, I am just stopping by to tell you about the above album. I've been having a bit of a mooch round MP3.com, which really is a great website...tonnes of free downloads, free album streamings, reviews etc. etc. (No, I don't work for them!). On my travels I came across Alice Smith, who I have never heard of before.
This album is excellent. Admittedly I have only listened to it in full once so far, but it held my attention, whereas most of the others I would click away from after half a song. Her voice is kind of India Arie/Jill Scott/Erykah Badu-ish, but this isn't just bog standard modern R&B (which often fails to move me at all). The tracks are really varied and all of a high standard. I shall definitely be listening again, and will even consider making a purchase (which, after all, is the reason they offer us a listen for free eh?).
Rather than just rehashing the MP3.com information to tell you more about her, I'll just link across there in order that you can peruse for yourselves >>> Alice Smith.
Let me know what you think and, if you already know about her/like her/despise her, perhaps you could share that in the comments...as I say, my knowledge of her is currently limited to the small amount of information on that one website...although I may well investigate further.
Edit: I've subsequently found out that this album is only available from 12/11/07 (i.e. Monday).
I haven't had chance to listen to them all yet, but thought I would let you guys know that Nine Inch Nails are offering 21 free to download tracks on their website. These tracks are all remixes of their songs submitted by fans, and the 21 offered are the winners out of almost 200 entries.
You can download individual tracks, download the lot as an album via Torrent, or stream it in an MP3 player...and the tracks are completely open source, so are free to share as you wish.
Weeds is an American television show about the life of a suburban 'mom' who, following the death of her husband, tries to bring in some extra money for her family as a marijuana dealer. The main character, Nancy Botwin, is played by Mary-Louise Parker (Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistlestop Cafe, Boys On The Side, Angels In America, The West Wing), and it has guest starred others such as Carrie Fisher, Mary-Kate Olsen and Snoop Dogg. It all takes places in a fictional suburb of Los Angeles, known as Agrestic (meaning rural, pertaining to fields or the country, and also lacking in sophistication, unpolished, uncouth - Dictionary.com). The show, now on its third season, was first aired in 2005 and won Best Performance By A TV Actress In A Musical Or Comedy at the Golden Globe awards in 2006.
But I am not really here to talk about the show itself...I am here to talk about its title music. The song is Little Boxes, which was written by folk singer-songwriter and political activist Malvina Reynolds in 1962. Inspired by the houses in Daly City, California, the song is all about tell-them-apart-if-you-can, chocolate box house, suburban living and its values and expectations of conformity. The song is best known through the performance by Pete Seeger.
In the first series of the show, the original song (video above) aired as the title music for each episode; however, by series' two and three, a different artist or band was being used for each separate episode. Apparently the impetus behind this was because series producers were initially unsure as to whether they would be able to use the original, and therefore had several artists record the song before deciding which one to use. It has now got to the stage where performers are requesting to be included...and the role-call holds some very big names!
There has been an orchestral and instrumental version (by Maestro Charles Barnett - Season 2, Episode 5), a Spanish version with a disco feel (Kinky - Season 3, Episode 3), a rap version (The Individuals - Season 3, Episode 7), and even one sung partly in Russian (Persephone's Bees - Season 3, Episode 12).
Here are my top five in order of appearance (the clickable links are to the video for each on YouTube):
Death Cab For Cutie are Ben Gibbard, Nick Harmer, Jason McGerr and Chris Walla. They were formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997 and took their name from a Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band song, which appeared on their 1967 album Gorilla and in The Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour. Their best known track is probably Transatlanticism, from the album of the same name - this song was used in the HBO show Six Feet Under, and several more have featured in The OC.
This version of Little Boxes is a pretty straightforward reading with a male vocal. The backing is catchy guitar-based, indie band pop, with some nice drumming. It feels very upbeat.
The McGarrigle sisters, who are of Canadian and Irish origin, hail from the town of Saint Sauveur desMonts (where I had a pen pal as a child!) in Quebec. They record in both French and English and their songs are based around folky vocal harmonies and often unusual timings.
This version of the song is in French and is quite a sedate affair filled with their trademark harmonies and minimal, mostly string-based, backing instrumentation. You can find the whole song (3 minutes 38 seconds) on The Songs of Pete Seeger, Vol. 2 - If I Had A Song.
Can this woman do no wrong? Born in Moscow, Russia, moving to The Bronx, New York aged nine, Regina Spektor studied classical piano from an early age. She now makes quirky (typified by relatively unusual techniques such as the glottal stop) folk-influenced music, claiming to have written over 700 songs...although neglecting to write them all down!
You can listen to full songs at her website...go to http://www.reginaspektor.com/, select 'music' and then 'launch radio player'. She is also, if you get the chance, excellent live.
This cover is very Regina...it is kooky and not simply a note-for-note copy. The timing is individual and has a different personality to many of the other versions used, incorporating some changes to a minor key and, of course, Spektor's very pretty voice.
Kidjo was born in Ouidah, Benin and grew up in the port village of Cotonou. In her early 20s she moved to Paris, due to the political conflicts in her home country, where she began performing. She is fluent in Fon, French, Yoruba and English (I haven't even heard of all of these languages!) and often uses traditional African vocal styles, such as the zilin technique of her native Benin, alongside jazzy stylings.
This episode's Little Boxes is possibly my favourite of the lot. The African influences are there for all to see, with Kidjo being backed by a group of singers making sounds more than singing the words of the song. Initially a capella, about half way through some backing music kicks in, which is very Caribbean-feeling, carnival-type music. Seriously, this sounds really good!
I'm sure Joan Baez needs little introduction...what a coup, getting her to sign up to this! Just in case...Baez is a Mexican-American folk singer and songwriter who, due to her father's job, grew up all over the US, Europe and Middle East (she was born on Staten Island). She is a soprano with a three octave vocal range and performed at 1969's Woodstock Festival. Baez is well known for singing songs with political and protest-based lyrics. On her live CD Ring Them Bells, reissued this year as a collectors edition, she is joined by many other big names, including Kate and Anna McGarrigle, who also appear in this Top 5.
This one is again fairly straightforward, but unmistakably Joan Baez. There is acoustic guitar backing and great use of the snare drum.
Also worth a listen (in my rather humble opinion) are:
Elvis Costello (The Man!) - Season 2, Episode 1
The Submarines - Season 2, Episode 8 (nice backing to this one)
Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice - Season 2, Episode 11
Randy Newman - Season 3, Episode 1
Man Man - Season 3, Episode 8
And I haven't even mentioned that others have included:
"The Passenger and those he leaves behind, connected for a time by a long unwinding ribbon. A streamer cast and caught with joy."
Patti Smith - The Coral Sea (1996)
Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith met in New York in 1967. First communing over a mutual love of William Blake, they became lovers, despite Mapplethorpe living the majority of his adult life as a homosexual. They lived together for around five years in all, a key time being their period at The Chelsea Hotel (after a brief stay at a loft on Delancey Street and then The Allerton Hotel). During this time Smith inspired Mapplethorpe, then a sculptor, to experiment with photography; he, in turn, encouraged Smith to perform her poetry live. He was also responsible for financing her first single - a cover of Hey Joe, with the B-side Piss Factory, in 1974.
Smith was the first person that Mapplethorpe photographed and became something of a muse to him. The most iconic of the resulting pictures is that used for the cover of Smith's debut album Horses in 1975. This photograph is multi-faceted, to my eyes showing Smith as strong yet vulnerable, androgynous yet undeniably brimming with female sexuality. The rapport between photographer and subject is tangible, and there is no pretence - exemplified by Smith's direct look at the camera (and therefore viewer/audience). Mapplethorpe described taking photographs of Patti Smith as "like taking drugs; you're in an abstract place and it's perfect."
In 1978 they made a short (13 minutes) black and white film together, entitled Still Moving. The film had its premiere at The Robert Miller Gallery, New York. Mapplethorpe is said to have wanted to capture Smith's "presence" on film and record her poetry and love of literature. Prior to this, in 1971, they had also been captured on film together in Sandy Daley's Robert Having His Nipple Pierced.
Smith and Mapplethorpe were close friends and inspiration to each other ("my friend, my compeer, my beloved adventure", Patti Smith) for 22 years, right up until his untimely AIDS-related death, aged just 42, on March 9th 1989. Smith was devastated by his death (and suffered three further significant bereavements over the course of the next five years). She spoke at his memorial service in New York and, in 1996, wrote The Coral Sea - a book of poetry about Mapplethorpe, and in his memory. All royalties from this were donated to The Robert Mapplethorpe Laboratory For AIDS Research at New England Deaconess Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Smith has been photographed by many over the years, with notables including Annie Leibovitz, yet it is the pictures by Mapplethorpe, her close friend, that really seem to capture some truth, some "presence" (as Mapplethorpe himself put it) that is far greater than any picture by another photographer. Through Mapplethorpe we as viewers/listeners/audience/fans are gifted a small window into Patti Smith's soul.
ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE November 4th 1946-March 9th 1989
I booked tickets yesterday to go and see The Imagined Village at The Sage. Somehow I've missed out on hearing about this ensemble before getting an e-mail about it from The Sage, but it looks awesome! Billy Bragg, Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy, Simon Emmerson (of Afro Celt Sound System) and others all appearing on stage together! I can't wait!
Whilst we are on a trad folk bent, I shall return again to Kate Rusby (who, if you have been reading for a while / have looked back in the archive, you will know that I have blogged about before). She is another folkie with an amusing and endearing repartee...and surely what simply must be the best voice in the business! She is so good that I can't really find the words (and that's saying something!).
I found a great video, whilst browsing YouTube, of her song My Young Man. Elfman101 is, I think, responsible for the photo montage that accompanies it, which is just stunning.
Coal mining (the subject of the song) was a massively important industry in the region in which I live; it was the backbone of local communities, from which the heart was ripped when then pits were closed, resulting in massive unemployment and economic depression, not to mention the toll it had taken on miners' health. It's something I wrote a poem about (a very quickly-written poem, I hasten to add) on 27/01/05...The Day The Last Pit Closed:
The day the last pit closed -
Like prisoners released
into the big, wide world.
Blinking and unable to adjust,
the freedom too much to bear.
So unnatural.
60 years passed since the Holocaust.
Harold Shipman's inquest.
They hardly get a look-in,
this community torn to shreds.
This industry.
Our industry.
Deceased.
And only on the local news.
Kate Rusby puts it, ahem, somewhat better!
Here's the song...and thanks for the brilliant video Elfman101:
Last night I went to see Vin Garbutt at The Sage, Gateshead. It cost me the princely sum of £3.50! Not bad to see two acts (support came in the form of Jez Lowe) in a beautiful venue methinks. This was the third time I have seen Vin live - my first as a child dragged along by my mother (I think she had a spare ticket or something) - and he never fails to impress.
The title of this blog is a line he came out with during this recent gig, and a prime example of his inter-song witticisms. This, unbeknownst to me beforehand, was his 60th birthday concert and so, as he took to the stage, he was greeted by most of the audience singing Happy Birthday.
So, I hear most of you ask, who on earth is Vin Garbutt? Well, he is a folk singer from Middlesbrough. Born in South Bank (still Middlesbrough, not London!), he became a professional musician aged 21 and has been slogging away ever since. He tours the world each year and sells out gigs across the globe...the one last night included.
Yet most people never seem to have even heard his name. Unless they are particularly into folk music...Vin is a big name, probably one of the biggest, on the British folk scene. He even won the Best Live Act at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2001. And he is a proper shaggy-haired, penny whistle-playing folkster; this is trad folk (yet not just trad songs...most of the songs are written by Mr Garbutt himself). These are songs about real people's lives and hardships, which tackle the big issues out there, such as asylum-seeking, working for pennies, nature (and its destruction), and coal and potash mining.
The lyrics are intelligent and thought-provoking, as well as humorous in places. My favourites on this occasion were from Land Of Three Rivers ("In the land of three rivers I'm longing to be/Where the Tyne, Wear and Tees meet the North's rolling sea") and Punjabi Girl ("I never thought I'd fall for someone from another world/Until I met and fell in love with a dark Punjabi girl").
As someone who comes from my home town (which, although recently voted the worst place in Britain by Location, Location, Location, I am very fond of and nostalgic about. It does have its merits - beautiful countryside and seaside towns nearby, friendly people etc. But I digress...this is not the intended topic of this blog post!) and sings about it proudly, I always find the 'local' lyrical references particularly poignant. The first of the above quoted lyrics exemplifies the pride people feel in this region...their region; affinity with it really means something to people of the North East (despite what the otherwise lovely Kirstie Allsopp might have to say). It is a region that is truly in our hearts.
Punjabi Girl I found really quite touching as, despite being lovely, warm people, the folk of Middlesbrough are not a people I consider to be (obviously I generalise hugely) especially open-minded in their cultural beliefs. This song, therefore, evoked for me the sentiment of someone overcoming the preconceptions he had previously held...sadly, in the song, their families were not able to do this, but love still reigned :o) I seriously struggled not to cry on several occasions during the gig.
I laughed too. As I said previously, Vin is a very witty and likeable man. The one that made me laugh the most was:
"...my current cd. I'm one of very few artists to sell flavoured cds"
This obviously works best aloud due to the homonyms, but I'm sure you can imagine.
There was also a great cover of the song Teesbay by Bob Fortune, which evokes an image of a city on the sea, made up of boats and liners...a city that is always in flux, but always alive with sparkling lights.
He's an excellent live act and I will definitely go to see him again in the future (and hope that he sings my favourite song of his, If I Had A Son, which he didn't on this occasion). Perhaps, however, as a friend I bumped into observed, this was not the best venue for him. The Sage is absolutely stunning, but there just isn't that proper folk club sing-along atmosphere...it feels too formal.
Try to catch him and see what you think...I seriously doubt you'll come away unimpressed (or even without a cd in your hand - I never seem to! This time it was his latest Persona...Grata). And no excuses about where you live...this man has played everywhere!
One of my very favourite sub-scenes of music is the interweaving family tree that includes The Pixies, Throwing Muses, The Breeders and Belly. I could write endlessly about any of these bands, even about individual songs, so I am going to try to strictly limit myself to a very potted history and include a few example videos by each band, as well as a diagram that explains a great deal more (well, that's if you can read it...it's sharp as a pin on my computer, but the quality doesn't seem to be so great in Blogger). The diagram, too, could be endless, and there is much that is not incuded...but that should inform a healthy comments debate of additions eh?
Recording during the late 1980s and the 1990s, I believe that these artists, and in particular The Pixies, really added something new to the musical landscape; and they have certainly been very influential on other musicians.
I shall start with The Pixies, as they are probably the best known of the bunch, and are really the 'daddy' of this scene (although Throwing Muses were around before The Pixies formed). Headed by Charles Michael Kitridge Thompson IV (!) under the pseudonym Black Francis, they were formed in Boston in 1986. Their full-length debut, Surfer Rosa, recorded by Steve Albini, was released in 1988 (following the release of EP Come On Pilgrim), and was quietly successful, particularly in the UK (more so than in their native US), and won both Melody Maker and Sounds' Album Of The Year title. They supported fellow Bostonians Throwing Muses on tour early on in their career, which introduced them to industry professionals and the wider public.
I would describe their sound as alternative, guitar-based surf punk. Their albums displayed a wide range of song styles and The Pixies seemed to have a really novel, original and unique way of doing things. Strange sound collages crash against surreal imagery on subjects as diverse as UFOs, Mose Allison, incest and biblical references, and the albums are peppered by lyrics in Spanish as well as in English. These lyrics are often 'spacey' or violent, yet it is clear that their author is eloquent and articulate. Their use of volume and dynamics is also of note, with quiet, lazy, restrained sections contrasting with loud hell-for-leather, beat-the-crap-out-of-your-guitar choruses, and gutteral growlings interspersed with sweet, almost falsetto, tunefulness. They were of particular influence on the grunge music scene of the early 1990s (Nirvana claimed, in interview, to have been trying to emulate their sound with Smells Like Teen Spirit), and have been cited by many, including David Bowie, U2 and Radiohead, as one of their favourite bands.
Black Francis, now rechristened Frank Black, has since been prolific, both solo and with his band Frank Black And The Catholics.
And so, before we move on, here are a couple of interesting tidbits for you...
The song Debaser (from the album Doolittle - which was provisionally titled Whore) was inspired by the film Un Chien Andalou, by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali...anyone that has seen this film will remember the eyeball-slicing scene vividly! The song Ana (from Bossanova) is an acrostic - the first letters of each of its six lines spelling out S-U-R-F-E-R.
Divinyl's tip for best introductory album = Doolittle.
Video for Debaser (The Pixies):
Video of a live 1989 performance of Gigantic (The Pixies):
Throwing Muses were formed in 1983 by Kristin Hersh and her step-sister Tanya Donelly. They self-released a set of demos (The Doghouse Cassette) in 1984, also releasing a self-titled EP later that year. Their debut album proper (again eponymous) was released in 1986. Muses were the first American act to be signed to British record label 4AD, which has housed all of these key bands, as well as lots of other great artists. 4AD is also responsible for one of my favourite compilation albums, which came free with the magazine Uncut in 1998 and features Lush, His Name Is Alive, Dead Can Dance, Lisa Germano, Mojave 3, Red House Painters and others. (Check out their website for a fuller overview of their artists/releases.)
Hersh has an extremely distinctive vocal style and the lyrics are quirky, sung over tempo shifts and catchy guitar hooks. This is still somewhat anguished 'alternative rock' (e.g. lots of references to mental illness in their lyrics - Hersh suffers from bipolar disorder and is compelled to write by auditory hallucinations which 'force' songs upon her), but it is tuneful, poppy and accessible. Hersh continues to record solo today - a more acoustic sound and stunning songwriting - and also, in 2003, formed the power rock trio 50 Foot Wave. She has been kind enough to share free-to-download mp3s from her solo career, as well as songs from Throwing Muses and 50 Foot Wave at her website Throwing Music.
Divinyl's tip for best introductory album = Limbo.
Best introductory Kristin Hersh album = Hips And Makers (which was co-produced by Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye). Here is a sample song from that - the beautiful, touching and spectral Your Ghost (the harmonies are Michael Stipe of REM):
Kim Deal of The Pixies formed The Breeders (taking the name from the teenage band of she and twin sister Kelley, also in this incarnation - the word being one which homosexuals use to refer to heterosexual people) with Throwing Muses' (with whom they had been on tour) guitarist Tanya Donelly and bassist Josephine Wiggs of Perfect Disaster. Formed in 1989 and releasing their first full album, Pod, in 1990, this was a much more girl-based sound, where angular guitar-playing and feedback are complemented by the melodic singing voices of both Deal and Donelly (don't get me wrong, these women can howl too!). They were signed to 4AD after Ivo Watts-Russell heard their demo, and their debut was recorded (again by Steve Albini, with whom Deal had worked when she was in The Pixies) in only one week. And so to a fact, before we leave The Breeders - with their album Title TK (2002), they heralded the "all wave" philosophy of recording analogue instruments and vocals and eschewing computer technology and digital recording techniques.
Divinyl's tip for best introductory album = Last Splash.
Video for Cannonball (The Breeders):
Video for Divine Hammer (The Breeders):
Whilst The Breeders are still going (or at least haven't officially split - the last album they released was Title TK), Tanya Donelly (the most 'capped' in this pantheon) left in 1991 to form...
Belly. Who were a much more chart- and MTV-friendly band who fit nicely into the division of early 90s indie rock that also included groups such as Lush, Echobelly and Dubstar. Belly are, in my opinion, under-appreciated. Their first EP, Slow Dust, was released in 1992 and reached number one on the British indie chart. There followed two albums - Star in 1993 and King in 1995. And that was it (but it was enough to garner Grammy nominations)...unless you count a (great) album mixing 'best of'/B-sides and rareties not released until 2002. Their sound was much more 'pop' than their sibling bands, at times dreamy, at times thrashy, the lyrics still replete with weird, haunting and surreal imagery. They had their biggest success with the single Feed The Tree.
Donelly continues to work as a solo artist and has made some lovely songs; however, in my opinion, her solo efforts have varied widely in quality - it's all a bit hit-and-miss. You can visit her website, where there are free downloadable demos from Belly's album Star and also from her solo catalogue.
Divinyl's tip for best introductory album - Star. And by Tanya Donelly as a solo artist - Whiskey Tango Ghosts.
In short, things have not been great for me lately, but today my day was brightened by receiving a couple of unexpected packages through my door. I opened them to find that some wonderful friends had sent me a chocolate brownie and some dolly mixtures to cheer me up a bit...and I felt very loved indeed!
The website that they were ordered from is lovely, straightforward and easy to use...it allows you to choose a gift card to go along with your purchase (all of which are very pretty and in very good taste) and add a short message to be typed into it.
I can say, from personal experience, that this is a lovely gift to receive and a sweet (pun intended) way to show someone you care.
Hop to it! P.s. I have already scoffed the brownie (whilst typing this in fact) and can affirm that it was delicious! ;o)
I am stoked to have found this! A site where you can listen to the whole album The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn by CocoRosie for FREE! Oh yay!
I have, and love, their two previous albums, La Maison de Mon Reveand Noah's Ark, but have not yet got around to purchasing their third. And it's a treat!
You can have a listen for yourselves here (mp3.com).
I have also managed to find a track from one of their earlier albums that you can download right here:
Download Free MP3 - CocoRosie, By Your Side (from La Maison de Mon Reve)
They are something of an acquired taste...a bit like Marmite, you will either love them or hate them! I fell immediately for their curious and intriguing sounds...something so original and so artistic. This is completely uncompromising, but astonishingly beautiful...layered, considered and personal.
To read more about them, visit their Wikipedia page. (Their own website is gorgeous looking, but takes forever and ever and ever to load!).
I found these on my travellings about the internet recently. I am most impressed! We have had many an amusing (we thought) conversation at work about making tea/coffee for others..."I'll have mine American Tan" etc. Now you can get it spot on!
You can buy these beauties at Suck UK, which also has the inspired mugs below...for when you've been unlucky on the hot beverages round and have an igloo's chance in hell of remembering everyone's order!
Witty and useful design...I like it. There are also many other pleasing items there for your perusal, so check the website out...off you go!
Jolie Holland holds the accolade of playing one of the best and one of the worst gigs I have ever been to.
Hailing from Houston, Texas, Ms Holland made her name with (and was a founding member of) The Be Good Tanyas, before releasing her first solo effort, Catalpa, in 2003. Catalpa was recorded in a home studio and was never intended for release. The sound quality is appalling, but the songs are beautiful and Holland's languid voice beguiling. The opening line, on the song Alley Flowers, is the wonderful "Some people say I got a psychadelic presence/Shining in the park with a bioluminescence".
2004 brought Escondida, a much more polished studio consignment, and one which brought her to the attention of the music press in a big way. Holland's strange, almost eerie intonation and phrasing were captivating, sounding like nothing that had been heard before, whilst somehow still managing to sound like old-time music from decades past. Her jazzy-bluesy voice (of, almost unbelievably, a woman then aged only 29) ambled its way through folk-tinged, country-styled numbers...this was rootsy, yet somehow fresh.
It was shortly after the release of Escondida that I first saw Holland playing live. The venue was the Live Theatre in Newcastle, a small and charming place for which I have always had something of a soft spot (and which, following a regeneration, has very recently reopened). She came on stage, in a rather odd and mismatched outfit, every bit the small town gal. She was as humble as she was mesmerising. The band was astoundingly good...these people were true musicians, and this included Holland, who turned her hand to guitar and ukelele (and, as I remember, fiddle too). Her natural talent was obvious and she seemed sweet and shy as she introduced each song in a drawl so thick you couldn't help but warm to her. I really felt, on this night, that I had been let in on some very special secret. I even got a hug from the woman herself at the end of the gig and came away feeling high and happy, like my soul had grown a little.
In addition to songs from the two albums she had released, she played us a new song that she had been working on, called Moonshiner, which we were later to hear on her 2006 album Springtime Can Kill You. For me, this release was somewhat disappointing; and from someone I had thought could do no wrong. The captivating voice was still there, and it still sounded pleasant, but the songs just did not engage me and etch themselves into my consciousness as those on the previous two albums. I would be hard pressed, even now, to hum any of them for you, or to name any beyond the title track and the aforementioned Moonshiner.
But when I found out Holland was going to be touring again I was keen to get in on the action, having enjoyed my evening so much previously. Gutted was I, then, to find that she wouldn't be coming to the UK. And ecstatic when I realised that she was to be playing in San Francisco during the time some friends and I were going to be there! As soon as they went on sale, I booked three tickets over the internet (how jet-setting am I booking tickets for a concert on another continent?!).
So, having seriously 'bigged her up' to my friends, who had never heard of her, we spent that day pootling up through Chinatown, past the Transamerica Pyramid, calling in at the infamous City Lights book store, before taking in Lombard Street and North Beach. Our destination was Bimbo's 365, where Ms Holland would be playing.
After waiting in line outside for eons we finally got in, only to find out that almost every seat in the house had been reserved in advance (which, as 'auslanders' we could not have known). We took some seats right near the back and decided to get a drink...which was extortionate, particularly if, as expected, you took advantage of the table service. The venue itself was capacious, yet somehow still quite dingy and, however many miles it was that we were from the stage, our vantage point was disappointing. But not to worry - she would be so excellent that it would be as if warm honey had been poured into my friends' virgin ears and this wouldn't matter a jot!
Sadly, I was mistaken.
She took to the stage looking somewhat bewildered and lackadaisical, demanding that someone bring her bag, which she had left backstage, to her. Then followed an entire evening's worth of dull meanderings, reworkings of every song so that they became tuneless, pointless and, frankly, boring. I was so disappointed...and embarrassed to have sung her praises so highly when this had been my friends' introduction to her music! We even considered getting out our pack of cards to keep us entertained, but general Britishness prevented this!
Every single song was completely immemorable and Ms Holland appeared to have picked up quite an attitude somewhere along the way. No longer the charming, unassuming woman sitting in front of us, this was someone who told a girl at the front of the audience to be quiet (fair enough) whilst she was on stage, addressing her as "Baby doll" (patronising, quite rude and not fair enough!). When the evening finally wound to a close my friends were so infused with ennui that they didn't even feel like going on elsewhere for a post-gig drink.
There is a lesson in here somewhere I am sure. Perhaps it is about not putting people on a pedestal, perhaps it is about taking each individual experience for what it is and not expecting to be able to recreate it. Perhaps it is simply that one should keep one's expectations low? Below are a couple of free-to-download MP3s I found on the internet (I am ever so proud of myself for understanding source code enough to post them on here!). They are worth a listen, despite the negative tone of the second half of the article itself. To me they sound quite bewitching, and only slightly sullied by my disappointment in the way Jolie Holland has gone! I would still thoroughly recommended the first two albums, particularly Escondida...definitely worth an investment.
As, it would seem from an advertisment during a recent evening's televisual viewing, are Sylvanian Families (which was something I desperately wanted as a child!).
This, apparently, is the Wildwood Family grandparents!
Bananarama were on This Morning the other day (without Siobhan, who was always the best one), and Facebook is heaving with '80s kids' tv' quizzes.
Next week I shall mostly be wearing a flourescent skirt over my cycling shorts...and moaning about Margaret Thatcher!
I'm Not There, directed by Todd Haynes, is a film about the life of Bob Dylan.
The film is named after a Dylan song only available on bootleg albums (The Genuine Basement Tapes and A Tree With Roots). It was recorded during The Basement Tapes sessions, but was cut from the final release.
Haynes is probably best known for his 2002 film Far From Heaven (which I will admit I have not seen) and 1998's Velvet Goldmine (a let down). He was also responsible for the 1987 film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, in which Carpenter was portrayed by Barbie dolls - Haynes was sued by Richard Carpenter and the film was removed from distribution.
Continuing with this 'arty' focus to his film-making, I'm Not There follows Dylan through seven different stages of his life, played by six different actors: Marcus Carl Franklin, Ben Whishaw, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard Gere and Cate Blanchett.
Yes, you did read that right...Cate Blanchett!
This, for me, brings to mind Todd Solondz's film Palindromes, in which the protagonist, 13 year old Aviva, was played by eight different actors of varying age, race and gender. If you haven't seen that, it's really interesting and well worth a look.
I'm Not There has already won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. I can't wait to see it! Let's just hope, after such wonderful biopics as Ray and Walk The Line, that this one is worthy of the great man. The cinematography certainly looksbeautiful from the trailers I have seen (below).
Also starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams.
If you want to check it out further, try Internet Movie Database (a film geek's paradise!) as a starting point.
Before we start...a handy piece of advice from The Clash...Don't Get Lost In The Supermarket.
This is by no means an exhaustive list...comment away with your own additions! For example, I know that there are oodles (and noodles?) of blues songs not listed, but that's not really my 'specialist subject' and I've tried to stick to songs I know (most of which are in my personal music library).
So let's start with...
APPETISERS / NIBBLES
Electric Soup – Corduroy
Post Houmous – Morcheeba (it has literally only just occurred to me, whilst typing this up, that their name is a dope-smoking reference!)
Pumpkin Seeds – Devendra Banhart
The Soup – Regina Spektor
Tick Eats The Olives – Devendra Banhart
FAST FOOD?
Hot Burrito #1 – Belly (Hot Burrito #1 and #2 – Flying Burrito Brothers)
Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad – Wanda Jackson
Hot Tamale – Donna The Buffalo
MEAT AND POULTRY
Cold Turkey – The Beatles
Goodbye Pork Pie Hat – Charles Mingus
Meat Hook – Tracy Bonham And who could forget...
Spam – Monty Python (if Spam can ever be called a meat!)
FISH AND SEAFOOD
Catfish Blues – Robert Petway
Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie – Joanna Newsom
Pulling Mussels (From A Shell) – Squeeze
Rock Lobster – The B52s
Turnip Fish – Sultans Of Ping FC (which could also be in 'vegetables' I suppose...an executive decision!)
MAIN DISHES / ENTREES (Which, for some reason, seem to be primarily about pie!)
American Pie – Don McLean
Jambalaya (On The Bayou) – Hank Williams (or The Carpenters)
Memphis Soul Stew – King Curtis
Ocean Pie – Shed Seven
Petootie Pie – Ella Fitzgerald
Rainbow Stew – Merle Haggard
LET'S CARB IT UP A NOTCH!
A Widow's Toast – Neko Case
Bread And Butter – The Newbeats
Bread And Roses – Mr Hudson And The Library
Shortnin' Bread – Paul Robeson
There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis – Kirsty MacColl
Toast – Tori Amos
WANT ANY CONDIMENTS WITH THAT?
Emperor Tomato Ketchup – Stereolab
Lady Marmalade – LaBelle
Marmalade – The Geraldine Fibbers
Reading Time With Pickle – Regina Spektor
SEASONING?
Cinnamon Girl – Neil Young
Ginger Park – 50 Foot Wave
Let No Man Steal Your Thyme – Pentangle
Open Sesame – Kool & The Gang
Rosemary – Nina Nastasia
Rosemary – Suzanne Vega
Sally Cinnamon – The Stone Roses
VEGETABLES
Battle Of The Beanfield – The Levellers
Glass Onion – The Beatles
Green Onions – Booker T & The MGs
Know Your Onion! – The Shins
Navy Bean – Tracy Bonham
Polk Salad Annie – Tony Joe White
Pumpkin – Tricky
Sliced Tomatoes – Just Brothers (ok, so tomatoes are technically a fruit...pumpkins are too I guess?)
Sprout And The Bean – Joanna Newsom
Sweet Potato – Sia
The Onion Song – Marvin Gaye
Vege-tables – Brian Wilson
Vegetable – Radiohead
HOW ABOUT SOME FRUIT?
Agent Orange – Tori Amos
Black Cherry – Goldfrapp
Black Horse And The Cherry Tree – KT Tunstall
Blackberry Way – The Move
Blueberry Hill – Fats Domino (an ex of mine was adamant that the lyrics to this are “I found my freedom...”; that makes no sense at all, and therefore she was quite silly!)
Cantaloupe Island – Herbie Hancock
Coconut Grove – The Lovin' Spoonful (I have a cover by Sandie Shaw)
Golden Apples Of The Sun – Devendra Banhart (with Vashti Bunyan)
Gooseberry Fool – Kinky Machine
I Heard It Through The Grapevine – Marvin Gaye (slightly tenuous, but such a great song it demanded to be included!)
Lemon Incest – Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg
Love Tastes Like Strawberries – Miriam Makeba
Orange Moon – Erykah Badu
Peach, Pear, Plum – Joanna Newsom
Peaches – Presidents Of The United States Of America
Raspberry Beret – Prince
Raspberry Swirl – Tori Amos
Shiny Apple – The Waifs
Strange Fruit – Billie Holiday (and many others)
Strawberry Fields Forever – The Beatles
Strawberry Julius – Bikini Kill
Strawberry Letter #23 – The Brothers Johnson
Strawberry Street – Jeff Buckley
Tangerine – Moist
FRUIT TOO HEALTHY FOR YOU? HAVE SOME SWEETIES (Candy if you are American) OR A BIKKY OR TWO
Biscuit – Portishead
Broken Biscuit – Sia
Butterscotch – CocoRosie
Candy Everyone Wants – 10,000 Maniacs
Candy Kisses – Kitty Wells
Caramel – Suzanne Vega
Dolly Mixture Kid – Kinky Machine
Lollipop – The Chordettes (or Ronald and Ruby)
My Boy Lollipop – Millie Small
No-Biscuit Blues – Kate and Anna McGarrigle
So Like Candy – Elvis Costello
Sweets For My Sweet – The Drifters
Whitechocolatespaceegg – Liz Phair
WANT TO GO THE WHOLE HOG AND OPT FOR DESSERT?
Banana Pancakes – Jack Johnson
Doughnut Song – Tori Amos
Ice Cream – New Young Pony Club
Just Desserts – Chumbawamba
Nobody In Town Can Bake A Sweet Jelly Roll Like Mine – Bessie Smith
She Don't Use Jelly – The Flaming Lips (I guess this would be in the condiments section for US folk)
The Jello Fund – The Lemonheads
SUGAR (There are so many it needs its own category...as does 'honey', which comes next)
Brown Sugar – The Rolling Stones
I Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl – Bessie Smith (what wanton smut for an old time gal!)
Pour Some Sugar On Me – Millie Jackson
Spin Spin Sugar – Sneaker Pimps
Sugar – The Archies (dreadful, dreadful song)
Sugar – Heather Nova
Sugar And Spice – The Searchers
Sugar Blues – Ella Fitzgerald
Sugar Daddy – The Jackson 5
Sugar Dumpling – Desmond Dekker and The Aces (or Sam Cooke)
Sugar Is Sweeter – CJ Bolland
Sugar Pie – Ella Fitzgerald
Sugar Pie – Har Mar Superstar
HONEY (And this is just a selection!)
Deep Honey – Goldfrapp
Honey Bop – Wanda Jackson
Honey Molasses – Jill Scott
Honey Now – Gillian Welch
Honey Or Tar – CocoRosie (well I know which I'd choose!)
Honey Pie – The Beatles
Milk And Honey – Nick Drake
Pony 4 Honey – The Need
Slow Like Honey – Fiona Apple
Sticky Honey – Juliette and The Licks
Tupelo Honey – Van Morrison
Wild Honey Pie – The Beatles
MISCELLANEOUS
32 Flavors – Ani DiFranco
Cornflake Girl – Tori Amos
Hominy Grits – Josephine Foster
The Sun Maid – Soul Asylum (ok, so there's no mention of food, but this always makes me think of raisins! Purely unintentional I'm sure)
A FEW SUGGESTIONS OF THINGS TO WASH IT ALL DOWN WITH (Drinks could be a whole separate blog!)
Champagne Supernova – Oasis (for the decadent)
Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffet
Milkshake – Kelis
One Mint Julep – The Clovers (or Ray Charles)
Pennyroyal Tea – Nirvana ...or if it really has all been too much
Black Coffee In Bed – Squeeze
IF YOU'VE SERIOUSLY OVERDONE IT
Intergalactic Laxative – Donovan
AND TO FINISH IT ALL OFF
Give The Anarchist A Cigarette – Chumbawamba
A SELECTION ABOUT EATING / DINING / COOKING...WITH TIPS ON WHERE TO EAT!
Breakfast In Bed – Dusty Springfield
Chowdown – Corduroy
Double Cookin' – Checkerboard Squares
Eat For Two – 10,000 Maniacs
Eat It – Weird Al Yankovic (he has squillions of others about food too)
Eat To The Beat – Blondie
Feed The Light – Joan As Police Woman
Feed The Tree – Belly
I Eat Dinner – Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Nighthawks At The Diner – Tom Waits
Power Lunch – Har Mar Superstar (featuring Beth Ditto)
Smokey Joe's Cafe – The Coasters (or The Robins)
The First Taste – Fiona Apple
Tom's Diner – Suzanne Vega
EVEN THE ARTISTS AND BANDS THEMSELVES ARE GETTING IN ON THE ACT:
Fiona Apple, Bananarama, Blind Melon, Bread, Cake, Cherry Ghost, The Cranberries, Cream, Flying Burrito Brothers, Hot Chocolate, The Jam, Jelly Roll Morton, Korn, Lamb, The Lemonheads, Meatloaf, Mint Royale, Peaches, Peechees, Prefab Sprout, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Salt-N-Pepa, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sugar, The Sugarcubes, Tangerine Dream, T-Bone Walker, Wild Cherry...you get the picture!
And we've got Sam Cooke and Sam Baker to do all the work for us!
I realise that most of these songs actually have nothing to do with food...even if they do pertain to ;o) But it's certainly food for thought!
Just one more wafer thin mint?
FINAL NOTE:
One Vision by Queen, when it was being written, was called Fried Chicken, and Yesterday by The Beatles was hummed by Sir Paul of McCartney as Scrambled Eggs whilst he was composing it!
Amoeba Music is the music lover's wet dream...as far as music stores go, this is (in my opinion) the daddy of them all!
(If you can think of a rival, please leave a comment and let me know...I'd be keen to check it out if I'm ever in the vicinity).
The first store was opened on Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, California in 1990 (this one is particularly good for vinyl), with two further stores joining in on the fun since then: San Francisco (since 1997) and Hollywood (Sunset Boulevard, since 2001 – which claims to be the world's largest independent music store at 31,000 square feet – and which is the only one I haven't been to). This blog will mostly be about the San Francisco outlet, which is at the top of Haight Street, just before Golden Gate Park.
The store: A massive 24,000 square feet (2,200 square metres for all you metric kids) of converted bowling alley...seriously, it's like an aircraft hangar or something it's so humongous...and it is stocked to the brim with goodies! It really does feel like a treasure hunt. This place seriously blows my mind!
The staff...are everything I want to be; they are the ultimate music geeks. They really know their stuff, their knowledge immense and seemingly endless. And I know that, like me, these are people that simply wet themselves over making the perfect mix-tape (or cd in these modern times!), and introducing friends to music they love and are super-excited about. I found the staff to be really helpful; I was specifically looking for a copy of Iron Horse Fade To Bluegrass, a great album of Metallica songs covered in a bluegrass style, which I had heard in a local diner, and simply had to have! So they are definitely capable of helping you to find that obscure or limited-release title (and I'm sure they come much more obscure than that too!). They have a computer to look it up on, as with anywhere nowadays, but they also have a glint in their eyes, a genuine enthusiasm, and a remarkable, encyclopaedic ability to converse about any of it...and make suggestions if you ask for them too. While I was there I also picked up a great in-store magazine/zine/bible chock full of the (informed and insightful...and passionate) recommendations of people working in all three outlets.
And, most importantly, the stock: This is like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory for the music afficionado...except without such a creepy man running the show (did Gene Wilder, as Willy Wonka, give anyone else the willies?). It really is endless...there is (almost) every release you could ever want...and so much stuff that you didn't even know you wanted! They stock vinyl, cds, cassettes, new and used (as well as dvds, although I didn't allow myself to peruse this bit of the shop!) - a very eclectic range, including hard to find bounty. They even have listening posts where you can scan the bar code of a cd you fancy having a listen to, which then shows up on a screen where you can select the track etc. Or you can just search their extensive database for inspiration...although that might take some of the fun out of the experience of rummaging, trying to find a bargain or hidden gem. There are swathes of clearance racks, offering used cds from about $1.99 (with some sort of 'buy lots and we'll give you a discount' schtick on top of that, as if necessary...something like 'get every fourth one free' if I recall correctly). And it's not all just dross, as with many bargain bins...I got Geraldine Fibbers, Natalie Merchant and Elvis Costello albums (as well as quite a few others!) from the cheapo-cheapo section...why is it that this always feels like such an accomplishment...like you've pulled a swift one on them?
The atmosphere is of a community record store, despite the size...you are surrounded by tonnes of other music nerds with sweaty palms, nimble fingers (for rifling through the racks) and wide eyes. Have you read (or seen) High Fidelity? These (me included) are those people!
And if this wasn't enough, they also host live in-stores shows...I shall list some of those that personally would interest me, but if you click on the link to their website you can have a squizz for your good selves.
Past performances have included: Datarock, Kristin Hersh, Aimee Mann, Solomon Burke, Smoosh, The Dears, Saul Williams, Rilo Kiley, Gossip, Devendra Banhart, CocoRosie, Broken Social Scene, Ladytron and The White Stripes.
Oh, did I mention that this (small selection from the whopping big list as a whole) only covers the San Francisco joint?
(Hollywood have had, amongst others: Patti Smith, Erin McKeown, Tegan and Sara, Jolie Holland, Neko Case, Ben Harper, Wanda Jackson (!! Belated happy birthday by the way Ms Jackson...she turned 70 on October 20th), Nickel Creek, Elvis Costello, Old Crow Medicine Show, PJ Harvey, Camera Obscura, Amp Fiddler, Po Girl, Throwing Muses, Lucinda Williams and The Melvins.)
And all for free folks!
Apparently they even have their own record label now...although from the looks of things this is still quite young.
Ok, so just to balance this review out a bit...the negatives. It is hugely overwhelming as there is just so much stock! Seriously, you could get lost in this place for days and still not touch the sides. It's like your eyes are too big for your stomach...make that your wallet and the amount of time it is humanly possible to spend in a record store in one go. The temptation is so great you are also likely to come out (blinking at the sunlight) a whole lot poorer, with more arm loads than you can carry, and with that gnawing anxiety that you just missed THE cd/lp you simply can't live without (even though you've managed ok so far, thank you very much). But these are hardly real criticisms.
You are, however, likely to be offered any number of illegal substances in the street outside (this is Haight-Ashbury, after all), so if that offends your sensibilities...
If it eases your conscience at all, Amoeba (a prime example of the kind of word I hate, never mind how much I love the stores...the whole 'oe' vowel pronunciation bit...yuck!) donates some of its profits to Rainforest Action Network. It also, in the Hollywood store, has a 'Big Green Box' in which to deposit your unused/broken/faulty electrical items and batteries, for them to be recycled rather than sent to landfill. If you think about it, even a lot of the music is recycled...bought used (for cash, or more in in-store credit).
Oh, and finally, there's a great pizza shop, with daily 'slice' specials (I opted for the veggie options that they were proffering that day...I think it was a slice each of 'You Say Potato' and 'Elementary My Dear Watsonville' that I had, going by the menu) called Escape From New York, just a few doors away. Pop in, stock up on calories to see you through the next several hours of browsing/hunting.
Whilst I'm on a food (and San Francisco) tip I shall mention a taqueria that I dream about...El Farolito (nowhere near Amoeba at 24th and Mission). It is grotty, grubby, in a bad(ish) part of town, but boy is it yummy! And very very cheap indeed. Their veggie burritos are to die for, and are enough to keep you flup (full up) all day! You should also check out the pico de gallo (or whatever the green salsa they make is called there...you can serve yourself pots of it for free...great if you buy a basket of tortilla chips for something ludicrous like 50 cents). I crave burritos in the UK...there aren't any Mexican take-aways round here, which I think is sacrilege. Any Mexican peeps out there in Gateshead or Newcastle reading this? ;o)
As for Amoeba Music...don't just take my word for it...here is what some other people have to say: Amoeba San Francisco.
E-mail the author of this blog if you have questions, suggestions or requests...or with music you would like me to check out and (possibly) write about.
If I have hosted an mp3 that you would like me to take down, please let me know and I will do so immediately.
*Please do not hotlink my files - I have to pay for my hosting and bandwidth. By all means direct your readers to this site if there is a song that you would like them to hear, but embedding my mp3 links on your site is not cool. Thank you*
Today, however, I am just stopping by to tell you about the above album. I've been having a bit of a mooch round MP3.com, which really is a great website...tonnes of free downloads, free album streamings, reviews etc. etc. (No, I don't work for them!). On my travels I came across Alice Smith, who I have never heard of before.
